ABCFT - YOUnionews - April 1, 2021
KEEPING YOU INFORMED - CFT Convention Update
Last weekend, thirty-four ABCFT delegate representatives attended the first California Federation of Teachers Virtual Convention. Every two years the CFT gathers democratically elected delegates from locals across this state governance convention. Delegates take part in committee hearings that discuss governance resolutions that once adopted will help guide CFT’s programs and politics. You can find the resolutions discussed among the delegates here: Resolutions
In addition to holding debates on resolutions, attendees also serve as election delegates that vote for who will fill the top two spots of CFT President and Secretary Treasurer and the twenty-four Vice President positions. This year the United 4 CFT slate of candidates is dominating the voting ballot with a full slate twenty-four VPs along with Jeff Frietas for president and Luukia Smith as Secretary Treasurer. ABCFT’s president, Ray Gaer is one of the twenty-four vice president candidates. Here are some highlights from the United 4 CFT slate informational flyer:
The United for CFT slate is a diverse leadership team representing our member constituency on geography, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientations, and backgrounds; our work is driven by values of, and carried out through lenses of, justice, equity, and fairness.
Our top priorities are:
Revisioning California’s public education and funding methods. Drawing on the strength of California’s world-class economy, we must help to reposition the state from its current embarrassing place among the lowest in per-pupil spending;
Broaden our base through shared values. Continue our value based work which benefits not just our members, but our communities in which we work and live;
Embedding a social justice lens. CFT advocacy must span the breadth of a moral imperative and include work for the greater good, including but not limited to: climate justice, gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, racial equity, and democracy for all.
The results of the CFT election will be announced in early May because this years convention election process is being done through the mail (old school pen and paper). ABCFT will announce the results of this election when we receive the election confirmation.
This year’s convention had a special late resolution that was submitted by the Executive Council for CFT which calls for CFT to take actions to stop Anti-Asian Violence. This special resolution was passed by the delegate body and you can read the resolution in its entirety here Resolution on Anti-Asian Violence. Below are the action items of the resolutions covered in the “Therefore, be it resolves” which are at the end of each resolution submitted to the delegates for a vote of adoption:
Therefore, be it resolved, that the CFT condemns the heinous murder of eight people in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, 2021, including six Asian Americans; and
Be it further resolved, that the CFT deplores the rise in anti-Asian violence that has been encouraged by racist rhetoric and policies advanced by the Trump Administration; and
Be it further resolved, that the CFT will advocate for anti-racist curriculum in the schools of California, and support expansion of Ethnic Studies, including Asian American, African American, Latina/o, and Native American Studies; and
Be it finally resolved, that the CFT pledges to promote racial justice and racial healing, and to challenge racially motivated hatred and violence within our society.
CFT virtual Convention Workshops are available throughout the month of April and May for all union members. Click on the session(s) below to learn more about the workshop(s) and registration.
KEEPING YOU INFORMED - ABCFT Officer Nominations
Nominations for the election of ABCFT Executive Board officers for the 2021-2023 term of office will be emailed to all ABCFT members on Monday, April 12th and remain open until April 19th. Details about the nomination process will be included in the email. The online election will take place May 10-17.
Below are the positions within the ABCFT Executive Board:
Officers:
President, Executive VP, Recording Secretary, and Treasurer
Vice Presidents:
2 At-Large and Membership
Unit Vice Presidents:
Child Development, Elementary, Middle School, High School, Adult School, and Special Education
(Unit Vice Presidents must be from the unit they represent)
MEMBER BENEFITS - WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS
Maintaining our mental health and well-being is important for all of us. ABCFT will be offering Wellness Wednesdays from 3:00 to 3:30 pm members will have an opportunity to virtually participate in Guided Meditation and Chair Yoga. These weekly sessions will give members a chance to practice self-care.
In partnership with Kaiser Permanente, you can also access mindfulness resources for all ABCFT members. For Kaiser members, you have free access to the app Calm and myStrength which offers personalized self-care programs based on the cognitive behavioral therapy model. Please be kind to yourself and find time in your busy schedule to take care of yourself.
This week, Donna focuses on breath. Participants practice meditation breathing by using breath as an anchor. Participants practice yoga movements by stretching chest muscles.
The session closes with a quote from Oprah Winfrey,
“Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.”
VACCINE OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU
MEMBER ONLY RESOURCES
March 31 is César Chávez Day and April 10 is Dolores Huerta Day. Use these K-12 lesson plans and resources to celebrate the life and legacy of these civil rights and labor activists.
Topics span their co-founding of the United Farm Workers union, their use of nonviolent protests to fight for the rights of laborers and includes other change-makers like Lucas Benitez and Librada Paz. You’ll also find related lessons on social justice, on Martin Luther King, Jr., and Hispanic heritage month celebrations.
Cesar Chavez Day Resources from CFT
Cesar Chavez Day celebrates the birth and legacy of the civil rights and labor movement activist Cesar Chavez, former leader of the United Farmworkers. In California, state offices and schools are closed.
There are many ways to teach about Chavez in your classroom:
Topnotch lesson plans have been created by your colleagues on the CFT Labor in the Schools Committee in the booklet Let Me Tell You About This Man: Cesar Chavez, Union Organizer (in English and Spanish).
Find model curriculum about Cesar Chavez from the California Department of Education.
Peruse the CFT’s entire collection of member-created lesson plans. You can download curricula for free!
ABCFT PRESIDENT’S REPORT - Ray Gaer
Communication is a union’s most important tool for advocating for its members at the bargaining table. Every conversation with the membership is focused on the end result of negotiating for the future prosperity and wellbeing of ABCFT members. This weekly report aims to keep the membership informed about issues that impact their working/learning conditions and their mental well-being. Together we make the YOUnion.
Tanya and I were talking about what to put in the YOUnionews for this week and realized that it would be going out on April 1. There are so many jokes that we could include as part of our April 1 message but after looking at our options we thought the appetite for pranks would be pretty low especially with all the planning a scrambling to get schools and classrooms ready for the April 12 reopening. So, no jokes this year to freak everyone out….we’ve all heard enough drama to make your hair gray or as in my case expand the bald spot.
I’m going to keep this simple and say that I hope you have a well deserved Spring Break and that you take a moment for yourself. We all need a moment to gather ourselves for the final push for this school year. When we return after the break there will be challenges and our school sites will feel and look very different from a year ago. It will also be very different for your students as they walk on campus for the first time in a year. Take it slow and I’ll fall back on whatRuben Mancillasoften says in our daily meetings that we need to all have “realistic expectations”. Catherine Pascualfrom AHS sent me an excellent article entitled “12 Tips for Work/Life Balance in Hybrid Concurrent Teaching” which I found to be good resource to help teachers find a systematic way to balance expectations/tech tools/resources and engagement.
Next week, find your bliss and do some excess self care. You deserve it. Be safe.
In Unity,
Ray Gaer
President, ABCFT
CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
By CFT President Jeffery Freitas
Good morning, CFT. I’m thrilled to be here with all of you—my fellow CFT leaders, all my union siblings, CFT and local union staff, and invited guests.
This year’s Convention has a lot of firsts. It is my first State of the Union speech as CFT president and my first time presiding as chair of the Convention. This is the first of our biennial conventions which we approved in 2018 through a constitutional amendment by this very body. And, this is the first-ever virtual CFT Convention. While we are making the best of the current circumstances, I sincerely hope it will be the last virtual convention.
Moments spent together in the governance of our union and in the camaraderie of our work are the highlight of my work as the CFT president, and I am so looking forward to the days when we can once again be together in person.
READ THE REST OF HIS SPEECH HERE
The latest CFT articles and news stories can be found here on the PreK12 news feed on the CFT.org website.
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
03/23/2021
AFT’s Weingarten Sends Letter on Physical Distancing to CDC, Education Department03/22/2021
AFT and AMPR on Release of Federal Funds for Education in Puerto Rico
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
K-12 Schools Must Take Steps To Address Anti-Asian Biases
Education Week (3/25) reports that there is “nothing new about violence or racism targeting Asians and Asian Americans. But the Atlanta shootings have suddenly thrust those dynamics into the national spotlight, fueled by heated rhetoric about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The rising tide of harassment “creates something of a mandate for K-12 schools to face anti-Asian bias head-on, educators say. They must create safe, supportive, and empowering environments for Asian and Asian-American students and facilitate dialog and learning about the issue for all students, they say.” EdWeek interviewed five educators “who are working to support Asian and Asian-American students.” They suggest hosting virtual “solidarity dialogs” among minority students and addressing the underrepresentation of Asians among school leaders and “the overwhelmingly white teaching force,” as well as in history textbooks.
Asian Teenager Harassed Outside Fairfax Middle School. The Washington Post (3/25, Natanson, Jouvenal) reports Fairfax County police said Thursday that “four teenagers verbally harassed an Asian teenager and spat in his direction outside” Longfellow Middle School around 6:20 p.m. Monday. The 15-year-old boy was “walking to practice soccer at a field near Longfellow” when “four teenagers, whom he did not recognize, approached, his father said.” The teenagers then insulted the boy’s “small eyes” and told him, “You should go back to your own country.” One of the teenagers also spat at the Asian student, and “it hit right in front of my son’s shoes,” his father added. A spokeswoman for Fairfax County Public Schools said officials are “investigating” if the teenagers are system students.
Biden Administration Developing New Testing Techniques To Reopen Schools
Politico (3/29, Quilantan) reports that the Biden Administration “is steering $10 billion toward developing a national school coronavirus testing strategy as its latest bid to reopen schools.” The planning “has turned to the practice of ‘pooled’ testing that uses a collection of swabs from a fixed group of kids attending classes together,” and the process “is meant to limit the spread of a potential outbreak while minimizing the costs of the frequent large-scale testing.” Massachusetts is currently the only state to “deploy a broad pooled testing program,” and it covers 1 million students and teachers.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Biden’s $2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan Includes Billions For Schools, Child Care Centers, Broadband Access
Education Week (3/31) reports President Joe Biden unveiled a $2 trillion infrastructure plan Wednesday “that would provide $100 billion for new school construction and upgrades to existing buildings, meeting a long-time push by some education advocacy groups.” The American Jobs Plan would “provide $100 billion to expand broadband internet access and $45 billion to replace lead pipes around the country, which would reduce lead exposure in 400,000 schools and child-care facilities, the White House said.” The plan would be paid over 15 years by raising corporate tax rates and closing tax loopholes, “backtracking on some cuts made through a tax bill signed into law by President Donald Trump.”
The Seventy Four (3/31, Jacobson) reports the plan includes $50 billion in direct grants for K-12 facilities and $50 billion in construction bonds. Biden is expected to release more details on the “$4 trillion package in the coming weeks. It’s expected to include funding for universal pre-K, lowering the cost of child care for many families and free community college. But it’s unclear whether the plan still includes a permanent increase in the child tax credit, considering that’s a piece likely to see the most opposition from the GOP.” Some Republicans “oppose the emphasis on green energy and say Biden should stick to infrastructure projects like roads and bridges.”
Higher Ed Dive (3/31) reports the “sweeping” proposal asks Congress to “allocate $12 billion to states to invest in existing physical and technology infrastructure and to improve access to community college in areas with few or no postsecondary options.” During his campaign, Biden “emphasized investing in community colleges,” and also “pledged federal support for tuition-free community college.” Some higher ed observers “have said states may not be able to afford that expansion in light of the pandemic’s impact on their budgets.”
CNN (3/31, Luhby, Lobosco) adds the plan would “invest $180 billion to advance US leadership in critical technologies, upgrade the US’s research infrastructure and establish the US as a leader in climate science, innovation and research and development.” It would also “aim to eliminate racial and gender inequities in research and development and science, technology, engineering and math.” In addition, the plan “would allocate $100 billion to workforce development – helping dislocated workers, assisting underserved groups and getting students on career paths before they graduate high school.” The Hill (3/31) reports $20 billion will be reserved for HBCUs, “along with funding for a national climate lab at a HBCU.”
Percentage of students in remote or hybrid classes drops amid reopenings
The percentage of students attending virtual or hybrid schools has fallen according to Burbio, an organization that monitors 1,200 school districts, including the 200 largest districts in the country. Last week, 16.3% of K-12 students attended schools that offered only virtual learning, down from 18.1% the week prior, while 30.6% of K-12 students attended hybrid schools, down from 30.7% the week prior. Students attending traditional, in-person school five days a week increased to 53.1% last week, up from 51.2% the week prior. The shift was driven primarily by K-8 students, who experienced larger decreases than the K-12 student population in both virtual and hybrid learning and larger increases in in-person learning.
Activists Fear Anti-Trans Legislation Will Have Negative Repercussions
CNN (3/28, Holt) reports that 28 states are considering anti-transgender legislation, according to the ACLU, with most bills falling “into two categories: targeting the ability for trans girls and women to participate in school sports, and restricting young trans peoples’ access to gender-affirming healthcare.” The ACLU says over 60 anti-trans bills are being considered across the country. Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice at the ACLU, said “There have never been this many bills targeting trans youth voted out of committee and then making it to the floor.” LGBTQ advocates “are concerned that the proposed laws will make it easier to limit trans people’s access to health care.”
Education Week (3/26) reported that many of the state bills “have similar or identical language, and they’ve won support from national groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative organization that has represented students and schools in lawsuits against transgender-inclusive policies.” Transgender rights groups argue that “enactment of such measures could put states at odds with federal civil rights laws, leading to costly legal battles and logistical concerns for schools.” Such hesitation caused South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to use a “style-and-form” veto to return a “Fairness in Women’s Sports” bill to the state legislature for further consideration. The bill’s “vague and overly broad language could have significant unintended consequences,” Noem said, drawing criticism from national conservatives.
USA Today (3/28, Thornton) reported that a recent analysis from the AP found that a “majority of U.S. lawmakers pushing to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports could not name a single instance of a transgender person’s participation in sports causing a problem.” Transgender rights advocates “point to the fact that all major medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association, recognize the validity of transgender identities and support transgender kids in their transitions.” Stephen Russell, a professor whose work has focused on child development at the University of Texas, Austin, “said he’s worried about the ramifications of calls to exclude transgender kids, such as negative physiological, mental health and behavioral effects.”
Tennessee Governor Signs Transgender Athletes Bill Into Law. The AP (3/26) reported Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Friday signed a law “banning transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports, making it the third state this year to approve a measure many critics warn would prompt costly lawsuits and hurt transgender youth.” The law requires student athletes to “prove that their sex matches that listed on the student’s ‘original’ birth certificate in order to participate in public school sports in middle and high schools.” Lee has said transgender athletes would “destroy women’s sports” and stated that transgender athletes would put “a glass ceiling back over women that hasn’t been there in some time.” CNN (3/26, Lynch, Henderson, Elassar) reported Lee tweeted upon signing the bill, “I signed the bill to preserve women’s athletics and ensure fair competition.”
Transgender Alabama Teenager Would Lose Hormone Treatments Under Proposed Ban. NPR (3/28, Block) profiles Syrus Hall, a 17-year-old transgender boy “in the early stages of his transition; he gets weekly shots of a low dose of testosterone.” Since he started transitioning, his mother sees Syrus “becoming more confident and social, with good friends.” However, the Alabama legislature is advancing bills “that would outlaw hormone treatment for him and other trans youth in the state.” Earlier this month, the bill’s Senate sponsor, Shay Shelnutt, “acknowledged that he has never spoken to a transgender youth.” LGBTQ advocacy groups “are gearing up for immediate court challenges if any of the medical care bans bubbling up around the country become law.”
Rapinoe: Anti-Transgender Athletes Bills Try To “Solve A Problem That Doesn’t Exist.” In an opinion piece for the Washington Post (3/28), Megan Rapinoe, an Olympic gold medalist and a two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, wrote that “being able to play sports as a child shaped my life’s path.” That’s why Rapinoe believes “that all kids, including transgender youth, should be able to participate in sports they love.” Anti-trans legislation pushed in “more than 25 states” shows how “sports have become another avenue to attack the rights of trans people.” Rapinoe argues, “These bills are attempting to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. Transgender kids want the opportunity to play sports for the same reasons other kids do: to be a part of a team where they feel like they belong.” While proponents of the bills “argue that they are protecting women,” Rapinoe says the real “threats to women’s and girls’ sports are lack of funding, resources and media coverage; sexual harassment; and unequal pay.”
Education Secretary discusses summer learning, mental health, and state tests
Following Wednesday’s virtual National Safe School Reopening Summit at the White House, Education Week interviewed U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, touching on topics including re-engaging students in learning over the summer, mental health support for teachers and students, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s revised recommendations on school social distancing. The interview also addressed the use of standardized testing this school year, and Mr Cardona’s plans for states to request waivers for certain school accountability requirements during the pandemic. Congressional Republicans have expressed concerns about his “commitment to faithfully executing the laws under” his “jurisdiction.” In a letter to his office yesterday, House Education and Labor Committee ranking member Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee ranking member Richard Burr (R-NC) argued that under current law, the education secretary is prohibited from “disapproving a waiver request based on conditions outside the scope of the request and explicitly lists the circumstances under which the Secretary can disapprove a request. The waiver template the Department released last week appears to violate these statutory limitations.” The letter said the waiver template unveiled last week requires states to report information on “chronic absenteeism and access to technology,” as well as “additional information on a laundry list of other metrics”; data “outside the scope of what states are seeking to be waived.”
Calls to focus relief on students with disabilities
A national coalition of educators’ unions and others has filed a petition urging the U.S. Education Department to make clear to school districts that they should direct significant K-12 funding from the American Rescue Act to help students with disabilities who were entitled to services during the coronavirus pandemic but did not receive them. A new report from the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the University of California at Los Angeles indicates that all students with disabilities suffered more from loss of special education and other support and services than regular education students — and the losses were great for students of color with disabilities.
Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Expected To Address Crumbling School Buildings
Politico (3/29, Stratford) reports President Joe Biden is expected to unveil new details about his multi-trillion dollar infrastructure plan this week. Biden said during his press conference last week that schools would be a focus of his infrastructure push, noting the decline of the nation’s classrooms: “How many schools where the kids can’t drink the water out of the fountain? How many schools are still in the position where there’s asbestos? How many schools in America we’re sending our kids to don’t have adequate ventilation?” Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), chair of the House education committee, likewise “told state education leaders last week that he expects schools will be part of the infrastructure bill.” According to Politico, “increasing federal funding for school construction isn’t likely to be an area of agreement between Democrats and Republicans.”
Education Department Denies State Requests To Cancel Standardized Testing, But Approves Smaller Requests
Education Week (3/29) reports that “in decisions it has telegraphed for weeks,” the Education Department has “denied some states’ requests to cancel federally mandated statewide standardized tests for a second consecutive year as they continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.” The department “denied requests from Georgia and South Carolina to call off the tests” and also “warned Oregon it would not accept a plan to replace year-end test with the results of a survey designed to measure factors like access to educational resources, that can affect students’ learning.” Ian Rosenblum, deputy assistant secretary for policy and programs, wrote in separate letters to the states: “The Department believes that, consistent with the [Every Student Succeeds Act], States should do the best they can to maximize the number of students who are assessed with comparable, reliable, and valid statewide summative assessments.” The ED also “turned down Georgia’s request to replace its statewide tests with local, formative assessments. Michigan has made a similar request, which Rosenblum has not yet responded to.” Nevertheless, in what “may be a promising sign for some states, Rosenblum gave Colorado approval to reduce the burden of assessment by testing in only one subject in alternating grades for younger students.” Rosenblum also “granted smaller scale requests from more than a dozen states to waive requirements that they ensure at least 95 percent of students are tested, and that they use resulting scores to identify low-performing schools.”
States’ calls to cancel standardized testing rejected
On Friday, the Biden administration formally denied requests from Georgia and South Carolina to cancel statewide testing entirely. In its request, Georgia had emphasized that its districts could choose to offer a diagnostic exam, but the department said that was not enough. South Carolina had sought to skip a statewide test in favor of allowing districts to choose their own exam. The department also told Oregon that it could not substitute a survey of students for a standardized test. “The realities of the pandemic mean that there’s going to have to be flexibility,” Ian Rosenblum, acting assistant education secretary, said in an interview Friday. “At the same time, obtaining data on student learning includes high-quality statewide assessments, and that data is critically important from an educational equity perspective.” However, the government has approved Colorado’s plans to pare down its testing regime this year. The waiver allows it to cut science tests in all but eighth grade and all social studies tests. Additionally, students will be given either a math or a literacy test, depending on the grade. The exams won’t be used to evaluate teacher performance or rate schools.
----- STATE NEWS -----
Thousands of California child care centers shutter
Across California 8,500 licensed child care sites have shut down since the pandemic began, taking with them tens of thousands of child care slots for kids who need care while their parents work or attend school. Both the permanent and temporary closures hit an already precariously positioned child care industry suffering from chronic low pay, a lack of providers and high costs. “The pandemic shed this bright light on so many systems in our country that are clearly broken or poorly built before the pandemic — and child care is just one of them,” said Keisha Nzewi, director of public policy for the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, a nonprofit that helps connect families with child care providers. “In child care the problem is that although it is a public good, it’s not treated as such.Among in-home family child care sites, 14% shuttered — a loss of some 3,635 sites — between January 2020 and January 2021, according to newly released data from the Child Care Resource and Referral Network. Among larger centers, 33% closed, accounting for 4,873 centers. These are both permanent and temporary closures. “There is always a need to invest more in the child care system in California,” said Kristin Schumacher, senior policy analyst at the California Budget & Policy Center. “We know it’s critical for working parents and our economy. We cannot recover from this pandemic in a recession until we have a stable child care system that parents can rely on so they can return to work.”
----- DISTRICTS -----
Some Oakland schools won't reopen as planned
More than a dozen Oakland elementary schools and preschools will not reopen as planned Tuesday after the majority, if not all, teachers at the sites opted not to return until required to do so in mid-April, despite an $800 incentive and prioritized vaccinations. Under an agreement between the district and the unions, preschool through second-grade students were scheduled to return to school on March 30th, with all elementary and at least one middle or high school grade back in schools by April 19th. High-needs students across all grades, including homeless students, foster youth, English learners, disengaged students and those with special needs, among others, would also be able to return by mid-April. The deal offered teachers a significant financial incentive, including a $2,000 stipend for all 2,700 union members who return to in-person learning this spring, if enough educators returned to reopen for priority students, including those with disabilities. With some schools failing to reopen, it’s unclear whether that measure was met
KRON 4 San Francisco Chronicle
LAUSD announces staggered school reopening schedule
Los Angeles USD is moving ahead with plans to reopen 61 elementary schools and 11 early education centers the week of April 12th, Superintendent Austin Beutner announced yesterday. The district's reopened elementary schools will offer three hours of focused work in literacy, math, science and social studies, as well as recess and lunch, in addition to homework help and enrichment activities such as painting, dance and yoga. Families also may choose to continue online learning rather than going back to the classroom. Reopenings will be staggered at each school over several days, starting with the youngest students. Kindergarten and first-grade students will return to school April 13th; grades 2 and 3 on April 14th; and 4th and 5th graders on April 15th.
Los Angeles Daily News KCET NBC Los Angeles
Judge denies request to force reopening of San Francisco's schools
San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman yesterday refused to order San Francisco USD to reopen its schools to 54,000 students by the end of April. He ruled that the city's lawsuit against its own school district was rendered moot by a plan announced a few weeks ago to offer in-person classes to students in second grade and below by April 12th and to all elementary school children and other vulnerable students by the end of that month. “This lawsuit has served as nothing but a superficial distraction from the work to safely return San Francisco’s public school students to in-person learning,” Superintendent Vincent Matthews said in a statement. City Attorney Dennis Herrera called the decision disheartening, and said in a statement, “We vehemently disagree with the court’s reasoning.”
CNS San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Examiner
----- CLASSROOM -----
Federal Survey Shows About Half Of Students Being Taught Remotely As Of Last Month
The AP (3/24, Binkley) reports that the Department of Education released on Wednesday the results of a survey of 3,500 public schools that sought to identify how many have reopened in President Biden’s first 100 days in office. The survey found “nearly half of U.S. elementary schools were open for full-time classroom learning as of last month, but the share of students with in-person instruction has varied greatly by region and by race, with most nonwhite students taught entirely online.” In addition, 76% of elementary and middle schools “were open for in-person or hybrid learning,” while 24% “offered remote learning only.” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona “said the findings, while encouraging, also showed ‘critical gaps’ for in-person learning, especially for students of color.”
The Washington Post (3/23, Meckler) reports the survey results “include a representative sample of schools serving fourth- and eighth-grade students, the first attempt by the federal government to assess the state of education since schools closed en masse a year ago.” According to the survey, 47% of “schools serving fourth-graders and 46 percent serving eighth-graders were open for full in-person instruction. But the survey also found millions of students still don’t have full-time school available while others opted for remote education.” About 60% of fourth-graders and 68% of eighth-graders “were at home at least part of the school week, either fully remote or in hybrid programs that combine time in the classroom – often just a day or two each week – with distance learning.” Education Week (3/24) reports that “as of January, 43 percent of 4th graders and 48 percent of 8th graders were still learning full time from home.”
K-12 Dive (3/24) reports that “initial findings from the NAEP School Survey – a monthly pilot collection launched by the Institute of Education Sciences and National Center for Education Statistics to gain insight into schools’ available learning opportunities during COVID-19 – show almost half of White students (49%) were more likely to be learning fully in-person in January.” NPR (3/24, Kamenetz) adds that “just 15% of Asian, 28% of Black and 33% of Hispanic fourth-graders” were learning full-time in person. Comparatively, “68% of Asian, 58% of Black and 56% of Hispanic fourth graders were learning entirely remotely, while just 27% of White students were.”
Also reporting are the New York Times (3/24, Robbins, Mueller), Chalkbeat (3/24), NBC’s Today (3/24), ABC News (3/24), HealthDay (3/24), The Hill (3/24, Castronuovo), US News & World Report (3/24, Camera), and EdSource (3/24).
----- SECURITY -----
Potential school shooters exhibit common warning signs, says Secret Service
Many potential school shooters exhibit warning signs that can be acted on ahead of time, giving educators, families and fellow students a chance to avert the next tragedy, according to a U.S. Secret Service report issued on Tuesday. The study analyzed 100 students responsible for plotting 67 attacks nationwide from 2006-18 in K-12 schools; all were serious planned attacks, and the plotters took at least some steps toward carrying them out or schools had faced a substantial level of risk. "In every case, tragedy was averted by members of the community coming forward when they observed behaviors that elicited concern," the report said, noting that fellow students were often the best-placed to identify the warnings. Among such harbingers was displaying an interest in Adolf Hitler, Nazism and white supremacy, the report said. Plotters also typically had access to weapons at home, either through unfettered access or stealing them from their parents. The report’s findings will be given live to more than 11,000 schools and community organizations during a training session, said Lina Alathari, head of the Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center. The goal is to take the information and use it so that schools can be better equipped to deal with the warning signs. This doesn’t mean expelling students found to be troubled, explained Steven Driscoll, one of the authors. Instead, the key is to address bullying, provide mental health support and assess the impact of stressors in the home.
Education Week US News and World Report
----- LEGAL -----
Arkansas Governor Signs Transgender Athletes Ban Into Law
Forbes (3/25, Porterfield) reports Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson “signed into law Thursday a bill barring transgender girls and women from playing on female school sports teams amid a push by Republicans across the country to keep trans people from playing sports in accordance with their gender identify.” The law affects trans girls and women from competing on a “school, intramural or club team from the kindergarten level through university athletics.” Civil rights advocates say the law will “increase the discrimination trans youth already face, and local businesses have expressed concern that possible boycotts of the law could affect the state’s business opportunities.” According to the Arkansas Democratic Gazette, the state “has no known example of an openly trans girl or woman participating in school sports.”
Lawsuits target Virginia's policies on transgender students
The Virginia Department of Education is facing a pair of lawsuits over its new, inclusive policies on transgender children, which require school districts to accept students’ gender identities and allow students access to facilities and opportunities according to those identities. One suit was filed in Richmond City Court by the Family Foundation of Virginia, the Founding Freedoms Law Center and a parent from Hanover County, asking the court to send the model policies back to the state Department of Education for revision. It alleges the department failed to adequately respond during a public comment period to complaints that the policies violate the constitutional rights of students, teachers and parents. The other was filed in Lynchburg Circuit Court by the Christian Action Network. Responding to the lawsuits Vee Lamneck, executive director of Equality Virginia, said the new guidelines are needed, adding they are “an important step in the right direction of making schools more inclusive so every child feels safe, welcomed and valued."
US News and World Report Washington Post
----- WORKFORCE ----
Do teachers need to disclose their vaccination status?
Education Week speaks to Robert Field, a professor of law and health management and policy at Drexel University, and Stacie Kershner, the associate director of the Center for Law, Health, and Society at Georgia State University College of Law, about teachers and COVID-19 vaccines. At present, it is not permissible for school or district leaders to require teachers to get vaccinated, as the shots are currently under emergency use authorization. Even after the vaccines have full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, at which point employers could mandate them, they will still have to make exceptions for individuals with certain medical conditions or religious beliefs when imposing any requirements.
Pandemic disruption turns students off teaching
Few professions have been more upended by the pandemic than teaching, as school districts have vacillated between in-person, remote and hybrid models of learning, leaving teachers concerned for their health and scrambling to do their jobs effectively. For students considering a profession in turmoil, the disruptions have seeded doubts, which can be seen in declining enrollment numbers. A survey by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education found that 19% of undergraduate-level and 11% of graduate-level teaching programs saw a significant drop in enrollment this year. Many program leaders believe enrollment fell because of the perceived hazards posed by in-person teaching and the difficulties of remote learning, combined with longstanding frustrations over low pay compared with professions that require similar levels of education.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
Decline seen in reports of child abuse from school sources
An Associated Press analysis of state data reveals that during the pandemic, child abuse reports, investigations, substantiated allegations and interventions have dropped at a steep rate, increasing risks for the most vulnerable of families in the U.S. There were more than 400,000 fewer child welfare concerns reported during the pandemic and 200,000 fewer child abuse and neglect investigations and assessments compared with the same time period of 2019, a total national decrease of 18%. A loss in reports means greater potential for harm because “there has not all of the sudden been a cure for child abuse and neglect,” said Amy Harfeld, an expert in child abuse deaths with the Children’s Advocacy Institute. “Children who are experiencing abuse or neglect at home are only coming to the attention of CPS much further down the road than they normally would,” Ms Harfeld said. “When families aren’t getting what they need, there are consequences for everyone.”
----- TECHNOLOGY -----
Almost half of students taught remotely
Long-awaited data produced in response to an executive order from President Biden offers the first nationally representative picture of what proportion of schools offer remote learning, in-person learning, or a hybrid of the two. Though the data are limited to two grade levels, officials assert that enrollment patterns are likely similar for other elementary and lower secondary grades. In all, 47% of grade 4 schools nationwide offered full in-person teaching, while 46% of grade 8 schools did. However, as many schools are small or remote and because families have chosen from among different learning options, it translated to only 38% of grade 4 students and 28% of grade 8 students attending in person. As of January, 43% of 4th graders and 48% of 8th graders were still learning full time from home. When hybrid learning is added into the picture more than 75% of schools offer at least some in-person instruction. The survey also found large differences by race; 69% of Asian, 58% of Black and 57% of Hispanic fourth graders were learning entirely remotely, while just 27% of White students were. Peggy Carr, the associate commission of the assessment division of the National Center for Education Statistics, described the contrasts in the amount of live remote teaching as "shocking." Students in cities and in the Northeast typically got more live teaching in their remote classes than those in the Midwest, or in towns. In Oklahoma for example, 71% of 4th grade students in remote learning received two or fewer hours of live teaching, while 73% of 8th grade students in Idaho received two or fewer hours of live teaching.
Education Week NPR US News and World Report Washington Post
----- SOCIAL & COMMUNITY -----
How schools can address anti-Asian violence
The shootings of Asian people at three Atlanta spas earlier this month have forced school districts to address how they can best offer support to students. The history of violence toward the Asian community, like that towards Black people and people of color in general, “has been the underbelly of this country,” said Michael Matsuda, superintendent of the Anaheim Union High School District in Orange County, California. “This is another teachable moment for all of us to ask ourselves: What’s going on in our society where a group of people are being targeted and scapegoated for something they had nothing to do with?” Liz Kleinrock, a middle school teacher in the District of Columbia, who is KoreanAmerican, explained that one of the challenges about responding to the events in Atlanta is that there’s often no common basis of understanding among teachers or students about Asian Americans’ experiences in the United States. The community is often all but absent in curriculum, even from lessons about civil rights. To address this, she has curated a collection of resources for teachers on the website of Learning for Justice, a curriculum project of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
----- HIGHER EDUCATION -----
College enrollment declines may be less than expected
New data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center indicates the drop-off in high school graduates immediately matriculating to college this fall may not be as dramatic as initially reported. An earlier report estimated a 22% decrease among recent graduates, a figure the Clearinghouse now says is the result of a "process error" that overestimated the degree of change. Updated figures, which account for just 14% of U.S. high schools, show a decrease of 6.8% year over year. Although the latest sample accounts for only a sliver of high schools nationwide, the trend of bigger losses in students from low-income and high-minority high schools noted in earlier data persists. Immediate enrollment of students from high-poverty schools fell 11.4% this fall among the schools reporting, compared to a decrease of 1.6% in fall 2019. Low-poverty schools, on the other hand, saw a 2.9% drop this fall compared to a 1.4% decrease the prior year. These declines stand to widen the gap in college enrollment between these schools.
----- OTHER -----
NTA Life Insurance - An ABCFT Sponsor
About three years ago ABCFT started a working relationship with National Teachers Associates Life Insurance Company. Throughout our partnership, NTA has been supportive of ABCFT activities by sponsorship and prizes for our various events. This organization specializes in providing insurance for educators across the nation. We have been provided both data and member testimonials about how pleased they have been with the NTA products and the opportunity to look at alternatives to the district insurance choice.
To All Members of the ABC Federation of Teachers,
National Teacher Associates (NTA) is committed in our efforts to helping educators through tough times. It’s what we do. After all…in our eyes you are the heart and soul of our communities.
Protecting you and your families has been our goal for over 45 years. Despite the current global pandemic, we are not about to slow down now. We know that many of you have had our programs for years and sometimes forget the intricacies of how they work. NTA wants to help facilitate any possible claims for now and in the future. Fortunately, all claims and reviews can be done by phone and on-line. I personally want to offer my services to guide you in the right direction with your NTA benefits.
We also apologize for not being able to finish the open enrollment for those of you who wanted to get our protection. We are still able to help by extending our enrollment window for the near future. Again, this can be done over the phone, email, or on-line.
Please contact Leann Blaisdell at any time either by phone or email.
562-822-5004
leann.blaisdell@ntarep.com
No comments:
Post a Comment